This work continues an exploration into the idea of the venerated object, drawing a parallel between the private rituals of the maker and those of the fictitious owner in their relationship to that object. In psychoanalysis it is argued that an early intense attachment to a thing represents a replacement for the mother who, in order for the child to go through the separation process, starts to be seen as both attractive and repulsive. In the paintings I wanted to question a similar intense relationship where paint is allowed to react as base matter (a word derived from mater or mother). The paint is made fleshy, poured, gouged and lovingly detailed, existing both as material as well as functioning to describe a “thing” that could be displayed by a fictitious owner. Helder-Melder refers to the relationships of the maker and owner with the 2 paired objects, which in turn have their own private closed dialogue.